The Fountainhead: Differing Thoughts

Summary: Reviews The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. Examines the conflicting personalities of characters Roark and Keating. Reveals how their different perspectives affect the outcome of the book.

The Fountainhead

Peter Keating and Howard Roark had many different thoughts and ways as to how to govern each of their own lives. Most of the story revolved around their beliefs and ideas. Peter Keating's weak and undeveloped self esteem tremendously set the path for his failure. Howard Roark's self reliance and uncorrupted ideas may have negatively affected him at the beginning of the book, but were the key to his eventual career and life success. At the beginning of the book, Keating did not know whether to accept a position at a very prosperous architectural firm or take a prestigious scholarship at a very prominent school of architecture. After being confronted with such offers he decided to ask for Roark's opinion and in response Roark said that Peter should make his own decisions without the assistance of others. Through this, one could see how Keating was not...